Identification band



M. E. TWENTIER 3,153,869

IDENTIFICATION BAND Oct. 27, 1964 Filed Dec. 1, 1961 INVENTOR. ///1x 5.7/l E/vr/Ee ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,153,869 IDENTTEZCATION BANDMax E. Twentier, Glendale, Aria, assignor, by means assignments, toAvery Products Corporation, San Marino, Calif, a corporation ofCalifornia Filed Dec. 1, 1961, Ser. No. 156,229 4 Claims. (Q1. 40-21)The present invention relates to a flexible band or bracelet for use inhospitals and institutions to identify an individual.

Bands employed for marking or identification are usually secured aboutthe wrist of the wearer and must not only be relatively strong to resistaccidental breakage but must resist elongation to avoid removal and tomaintain the band in comfortable relation to the surface of the limb towhich it is applied.

It has been found, when in use under certain conditions, that attemptsmay be made to remove the band without destruction for furtherunauthorized use. It is therefore essential to provide a band soconstructed and arranged as to prevent removal without destroying theband.

in accordance with the present invention a band comprised of a strip offlexible material the ends of which are secured by an adhesive in suchmanner that the band ends cannot be separated without rendering the bandinoperative for further use.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple and effectiveidentification band, the ends of which may be readily secured by anadhesive.

Another object of the invention is to provide a strip of flexiblematerial which may be secured about the wri" and the ends secured by anadhesive and in providing means for rendering the ends inseparablewithout destroying the usefulness of the band.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wrist band comprised ofan inner strip of non-stretchable plastic for contact with the surfaceenclosed and an outer strip of flexible material receptive to markingand flexible means for securing overlapping ends of the band againstseparation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fullyunderstood by reference to the following dcscription together with theaccompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a view showing the present band applied to the wrist;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the band showing a crosspiece to provide a pairof tabs;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a portion of band taken on line 3-3in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the ends of band ready to bebrought into overlapping contact;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the band ends in overlapping contact andsecured by a tab;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the ends of the band in overlappingcontact and secured by both tabs, and

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the band taken on line 77 in FIG. 6.

As shown, the present invention includes a flexible strip or" materialto provide a band it) which may be of a selected length. One end 11 ofthe band has an adhesive surface 12 initially provided with a coverpiece 13. Spaced from end 11 and secured to the under surface of theband is a transverse strip 14' to provide what may be termed lateralmembers or tabs 14 and 15. Tab 14 is provided with an adhesive surface16 and a cover piece 17. The free end of tab 14 is formed with aplurality of spaced apart slits to provide What may be termed afeathered edge 18, the purpose and function of which will be explained.The opposite tab 15 is also provided with an the the

3,153,8d Fates-lied Get. 27, 1964 adhesive surface 19 and a cover piece20 and the tab is also formed with a feathered edge 21 and with slits 22in opposite edges thereof.

The tab 1 extends from hand it? a distance equal to the width of theband it? whereas tab 15 extends from the band a greater distance thanthe width of the band, the purpose of which will be described. Asstated, the adhesive surfaces are initially provided with cover piecesso that the bands may be packed for storage and readily handled when putto use. it has been found that the cover pieces must be held by theadhesive to such degree as to remain in place during handling butreadily removable. it has been found that for this purpose satisfactoryresults are attained by using an impregnated flexible material such, forexample, as a sheet material known as Texoprint.

A band ill with the tabs at one end is of a selected length to encirclewrists of different sizes. It has been found, for example, that a bandto be used for an adult may initially be 9 /8 inches in length and /8 ofan inch in width. When fitted to a Wrist the excess portion of the bandis severed.

Although a single strip of a flexible material may be used as a band, ithas been found that better results are attained by providing a laminatedband consisting of an inner strip 23 (see FIG. 3) of an non stretchableplastic material as, for example, polyester film and an outer strip 24of a flexible plastic impregnated paper receptive to a marking mediumas, for example, writing inks, typewriter and addressograph impressions.The inner strip being of smooth surface makes comfortable contact withthe wrist and being non-stretchable prevents forced enlargement forremoval from the wrist. The outer strip serves to receive anidentification or other marking as required.

When the band is to be applied to the wrist of a patient, the excessportion having been removed, the cover piece 13 is stripped 0d from endll of the band. The band is then wrapped about the wrist and the underside of end 24 of the band is pressed into contact with adhesive surface12 on the end 11 of the band. The end 24' of the band is thus positionedbetween tabs 14 and 15. The cover pieces of tabs 14 and 15 may then beremoved. The tab 15 is then folded over into contact with the outersurface of end 24' of the band and since, as stated, the tab is ofgreater length than the width of the band the feathered edge 21 of thetab will overlap tab 14 as shown in FIG. 5. The tab 14 is then pressedinto contact with tab 15 causing the feathered edge 21 of tab 14 to foldover as shown in FIG. 7.

As stated above, an identification band of the type to which the presentinvention relates must be so constructed as to prevent removal from theWrist without destroying the band for further use. This is, as shown,accomplished by the tabs 14 and 15. When tab 15 is folded over andscored by its adhesive surface to the overlapping ends 11 and 2d of theband, the feathered edge 21 makes contact with the adhesive surface oftab 14 and provides a tenacious union between the parts. The tab 14,when folded over to bring the adhesive surface thereof into contact withtab 15, provides an additional bond by crimping the feathered edge 21between the tabs.

The feathered edges, as will be evident, prevent the lifting of the tabsfrom the adhesive holding surfaces since attempts to lift a tab willresult in tearing the tab owing to the feathered or multiple slitting ofthe tab edge. The

rirnped feathered tab edge increases the difiiculty of separating thetabs, as found in practice, making it impossible to remove a handwithout mutilation to such degree as not to be usable as a Wrist bandfor the purpose originally intended.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the present inventionprovides an identification band that not only 9 may be worn with comfortbut which may be conveniently and readily applied in such manner as notto be removable for similar use.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and describedherein, it is to be understood that modifications may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A laminated identification band comprising a plastic inner strip forcontact with the surface to which the band is applied and an outer stripequal in Width to the inner strip and receptive to a marking medium, anadhesive surface at one end of said outer strip for contact with an endsurface of said inner strip, a pair of oppositely disposed lateral tabsintegral with said band, one of said tabs having a length greater thanthe width of a strip and having an adhesive surface for contact withsaid outer strip when the end surfaces of said strips are in contactingrelation, the other of said tabs having a length equal to the width of astrip and having an adhesive surface for contact with the tab in contactWith said outer strip, whereby an end portion of said greater length tabis in contact with the adhesive surface of said lesser length tab.

2. A laminated identificationband comprising a plastic inner strip forcontact with the surface to which the band is applied and an outer stripequal in width to the inner strip and receptive to a marking medium, anadhesive surface at one end of said outer strip for contact with an endsurface of said inner strip, a pair of oppositely disposed lateral tabsintegal with said band, one of said tabs having a length greater thanthe width of a strip and having an adhesive surface for contact withsaid outer strip when the end surfaces of said strips are in contactingrelation, the other of said tabs having a'length equal to the width of astrip and having an adhesive surface for contact with the tab in contactwith said outer strip,

whereby an end portion of said greater length tab is in contact with theadhesive surface of said lesser length tab, each of said tabs having afeathered edge.

3. An identification band comprising a strip of flexible material, anadhesive surface at on end of said strip for contact with an oppositesurface of said strip at the other end thereof, a pair of oppositelydisposed lateral tabs integral with said band, one of said tabs having alength greater than the width of said strip and having an adhesivesurface for contactwith said strip when the end surfaces are incontacting relation, the other of said tabs having a length equal to thewidth of said strip and having an adhesive surface for contact with thetab in contact with said strip whereby an end portion of said greaterlength tab is in contact with the adhesive surface of said lesser lengthtab.

4. An identification band comprising a strip of flexible material, anadhesive surface at one end of said strip for contact with an oppositesurface of said strip at the other end thereof, a pair of oppositelydisposed lateral tabs integral with said band, one of said tabs having alength greater than the Width of said strip and having an adhesivesurface for contact with said strip when the end surfaces are incontacting relation, the other of said tabs having a length equal to thewidth of said strip and having an adhesive surface for contact with thetab in contact with said strip whereby an end portion of said greater'length tab is in contact with the adhesive surface of said lesserlength tab, each of said tabs having ,a feathered edge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS

1. A LAMINATED IDENTIFICATION BAND COMPRISING A PLASTIC INNER STRIP FORCONTACT WITH THE SURFACE TO WHICH THE BAND IS APPLIED AND AN OUTER STRIPEQUAL IN WIDTH TO THE INNER STRIP AND RECEPTIVE TO A MARKING MEDIUM, ANADHESIVE SURFACE AT ONE END OF SAID OUTER STRIP FOR CONTACT WITH AN ENDSURFACE OF SAID INNER STRIP, A PAIR OF OPPOSITELY DISPOSED LATERAL TABSINTEGRAL WITH SAID BAND, ONE OF SAID TABS HAVING A LENGTH GREATER THANTHE WIDTH OF A STRIP AND HAVING AN ADHESIVE SURFACE FOR CONTACT WITHSAID OUTER STRIP WHEN THE END SURFACES OF SAID STRIPS ARE IN CONTACTINGRELATION, THE OTHER OF SAID TABS HAVING A LENGTH EQUAL TO THE WIDTH OF ASTRIP AND HAVING AN ADHESIVE SURFACE FOR CONTACT WITH THE TAB IN CONTACTWITH SAID OUTER STRIP, WHEREBY AN END PORTION OF SAID GREATER LENGTH TABIS IN CONTACT WITH THE ADHESIVE SURFACE OF SAID LESSER LENGTH TAB.